~ Chapter 25: A kiss under the rain (Part 2) ~

“I ran out of batteries… Go buy me some. There’s a shop on the other side of the planet.” I grumbled.

“I don’t know what those are, but I’m pretty certain I can’t use them for anything perverted. Also! Why are you trying to get rid of your friend like that?! You are mean!” she said grinding and twisting her fist on my head.

“Ouch! Stop that!” I said slapping her hand away and rubbing the sore spot.

“Erm… If I wasn’t thinking of it seriously, I could. I would just take it as a joke, a game, but I can’t do that.” I slumped back on my chair.

“So to be clear, you are just afraid to say THOSE words?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah… I mean, what if she says no?” I asked.

“Weren’t you in this exact same situation since you met her? What’s with the drama?”

“Erm…” I scratched the back of my head.

I technically ran all the way over here because I wanted to be together with her. I knew I held more feelings towards her than I did for anyone else at the moment. Even so, I didn’t feel ready for this step. There was also the matter of our species… Could I make her happy? Would I be able to satisfy her? And not in that kind of way… well, maybe in that kind of way too.

“What if I’m not the one?” I asked.

“Does it matter?” she shrugged.

“It does… doesn’t it?” I tilted my head.

Putting a foot on the table and glaring at me like a yakuza at a bar, she asked me “Are you an idiot? How will you ever know if she’s the one or not if you don’t even have the guts to go and try?”

“But…”

“NO BUTS!” she cut me off, showed me her palm, and shook her head. “Listen! When you feel that you like someone, you go with it, you don’t run away from them. You go and confess! And no matter what happens, you know that you at least tried. She might not be the one, or you might end up in a two-days relationship. It doesn’t matter! You at least tried, and you can move on!” she said proudly and smirked.

“But she’s a knight.” I added.

“Yeah, that might make things complicated, but…” she raised a finger up “this didn’t stop you until now to flirt with her. Tsk! Tsk!” she shook her head left and right.

I looked down and sighed.

Yes… it didn’t stop me… so why am I hesitating now? I wondered.

Even though it was Kleo the prankster who was lecturing me about love, her words were indeed true, and deep inside, I agreed with them. Maybe I was only a fool who looked at things from the point of view of fear rather than simply letting everything be as I did until then.

Am I afraid to lose Seryanna? Even though she’s not a human, I’m afraid to lose her? I thought and looked at the empty tankard she dumped on me.

“Listen…” Kleo said, and I raised my eyes up “I think you are just being a bit of a coward now. So listen to me and go to her now and confess! Worst-case scenario, you get Kataryna. She’s already into you.” she grinned.

I only raised an eyebrow at her last remark. The age difference was a bit too much for me to handle it right now. Then again… Seryanna was an ancient granny by human standards too.

“Ugh… yeah… Nothing to lose. Maybe I am just being a coward.” I nodded and got up from the table.

“Two silvers he gets dumped.” said one of the dragons who overheard us.

“Oh? Bets? I’m betting five!” said Kleo.

“Why are you betting against me?!” I asked the black-scaled dragoness.

“Ehehe!” she merely laughed and rubbed the back of her head.

Letting out a sigh, I turned around and made my way to the bar.

Is this really going to be alright? I wondered.

“Excuse me, can you…” I tried to ask the bartender.

“Third room on the right. Go get her, kid. I’m betting two silvers on you!” he grinned.

“You too, huh?” I sighed and went up.

I guess, one way or another, people found something interesting to do when everyone was bored as hell thanks to the weather.

Should I have placed a bet as well? I wondered as I climbed the stairs.

Once I was in front of the door, I took a deep breath and turned the knob. Unfortunately, I forgot about my strength and ripped it right out of the door.

“Oops!” I said and then noticed Kataryna laying on top of Seryanna on the bed. “Erm… I didn’t mean to…” I took a step back as I began to mumble something. “I didn’t know you and Kataryna are like this… I mean… I’m sorry… And for the door… Good bye.” I dropped the knob and ran away.

Why am I running? What the heck?! I thought as I climbed down and flew past Kleo.

“What happened? Where are you going?” she asked from behind, but I just went out the door.

It was still raining and my mind was going left and right, up and down, in circles, everywhere. I honestly didn’t know what to think, and as a man, I wanted to punch myself in the face for the stunt I just pulled.

Why did I run? Damn it! I shouted in my mind as I stopped outside of the town, breathing hard and letting the rain soak me to the bone.

The sky was split apart by a lightning, and a loud thunder soon followed. I clenched my jaws and wondered if I was crying, but this was really stupid.

Why the hell do I feel like I lost? What the heck? I’m a man! I tried to force myself not to feel like a piece of crap, but even I didn’t know why I felt like that.

Normally, wasn’t the girl supposed to be the one to run away, and I to follow her? That was the normal way of how things worked! I could have gotten mad at her or something, not run away like this!

“Crap…” I cursed and punched the tree.

It broke like a toothpick and fell down.

“Alkelios!” Seryanna called out.

I didn’t turn around. I didn’t answer.

Why is she here? I wondered.

“It wasn’t what it looked like! I swear! Me and Kataryna aren’t like that…” she said.

Oh god, please just kill me now… Actually, I have weird luck, so cancel that and please don’t? I thought and then let out a sigh.

I closed my eyes and let a moment pass as I cleared my mind of all the unnecessary thoughts gathered in my skull.

Without a care, I turned around and looked straight into her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, I confessed “I love you.”

“What?” she asked with big eyes.

“I love you.” I said it again and blushed.

“That’s… erm… I don’t know what to say…” she avoided my gaze and looked down.

I let out a sigh and looked up.

“Today’s been a real roller-coaster ride.”

“A what?” she asked confused.

“Emotions going up and down, left and right… It was a mess; a strange, barely understandable mess. I probably made a fool of myself by running off like that and even thinking you and Kataryna are an item already…” I sighed.

“Me and Kataryna aren’t like that!” she retorted strongly.

“Yeah, I know… It was only me thinking stupid things…” I laughed, but maybe I was crying too?

I couldn’t tell, it was raining too hard.

“Then your words just now?” she asked a bit quietly.

“They are the truth… I didn’t come all this way just to tell you that we are friends. Yes, we are friends, but I came all this way because I didn’t want to let you go. Because maybe, somewhere deep inside, I want to be with you.” I answered her truthfully.

Seryanna looked at me without sketching a single gesture. Thanks to the rain, I couldn’t even tell if she was crying or not. All this time, the sky kept getting lit up by lightnings now and then, while the ensuing thunders tried to cover our voices.

“But I’m a dragon.”

“And I’m a human.”

“I’m a knight.”

“And I’m technically a hero.” I smiled.

“If my master tells me to choose between you and the kingdom… I…” she stopped herself and clenched a fist at her chest.

“You will do the right thing.” but what I wanted to say was ‘You will choose me.’

“Alkelios… I…” she approached me and stopped when she was just a step away from me.

“Seryanna…”

“If we can be together… I want us to be together. I love you too…” she told me with a soft smile.

In reply to her words, I stepped forward and embraced her. Our kiss was the most pleasant one I had in my entire and rather short life. The rain wasn’t calming down at all, and the skies kept rumbling above us. It wasn’t exactly the most romantic place we could be, but that kiss was simply divine. It made everything around us seem insignificant, including the downpour, which washed away all the fear and worries from our hearts.

[Kataryna’s point of view]

After Seryanna rushed out, I got up from the bed and looked at the broken door.

“I’m not paying for this.” I muttered and went down.

“Hey! Hey! What happened?” Kleo asked.

“Long story short, the idiot thought me and the redhead were together.” I told her.

“What?! You and sis were in a relationship? Why didn’t you call me?!” she complained.

Well, I already knew what was going to happen, there was no point in me betting against Alkelios. If the human didn’t say or do something incredibly stupid, then there was no way for them not even try to be in a relationship. Then again, the threesome idea still stuck around in my head for a while.

Maybe we should actually give it a try? I wondered as I sat down in front of the bar and paid for a drink.

Alkelios and Seryanna would return soaking wet and holding hands. I won a hefty sum, which I used to pay for more drinks. The boy paid for the door he broke, and it was repaired by the time dinner was ready. Still, some of the dragons there congratulated Alkelios, but if they knew he was a human, things might have been a bit differently. Even Seryanna looked like one with all of that armor on her.

After we ate, we decided to call it a night, but due to the lack of renting space, we all got crammed up in the same room. The two lovers slept together in the bed, while me and Kleo used our outdoor camping bags.

Is it me or has this jag off forgotten about the impending world war, his mother being on world war three world, and that he’s really should be working on world peace before everything he knows and loves dies horribly. I mean he’s complaining about the Internet? And thinking Seryanna wants anything to do with crippled her grand dad bitch?